Maiagaru
by Seito
Summary: All Tadashi wanted to do was go home. Being snowed in at the airport was not the plan. Still the cute guy he was sitting next to might make it worth it. How do you fall in love with someone in four days? Hidashi (Not-Brothers!AU)
1. Chapter 1

Maiagaru: to soar to fly

舞い上がる

**Summary:** All Tadashi wanted to do was go home. Being snowed in at the airport was not the plan. Still the cute guy he was sitting next to might make it worth it. How do you fall in love with someone in four days? Hidashi (Not-Brothers!AU)

**Warnings:** Hidashi pairing. They're not related in this story but if you can't even stand Hidashi in any form, consider yourself warned. Honestly, this fic is going to be very lighthearted and fluffy. I currently don't even have plans to have them kiss!

**zestychicken2** asked me if I would ever do actual chapter BH6 stories and not my drabble-style. This... is what I came up with. You should be_ forewarn that I have a terrible track record with chapter stories_, please proceed with caution.

* * *

"I can't believe this is happening!" Tadashi collapsed into the uncomfortable leather seat. A blizzard had rolled in just as Tadashi had arrived at the airport, grounding all flights from leaving. Instead of being on a plane heading back home, Tadashi was now forced to wait until the weather cleared. Tadashi buried his face in his hands. Could this day get any worse?

"You're stuck here too, huh?"

Tadashi lifted his head, turning toward the unknown voice. It came from a teenager, younger than him, sitting two seats away. His black hair was unruly like a giant fluff ball and he was dressed in a thick blue sweater and light brown pants. On his lap, rested a beaten up red backpack that had seen better days.

Tadashi gave a weak smile. "Yeah, no flight home for me. Is your flight grounded too?"

The boy grinned widely, revealing a gap in between his front teeth. "Yeah, they delayed my flight, then outright cancelled it a hour ago. There's no flying in this weather. I'm stuck, you're stuck, we're all stuck in this airport."

"Harsh. I'm Tadashi Hamada," Tadashi introduced himself. "Where were you headed?"

"Hiro Takachiho. I'm heading back to New Yosaka," the teenager said. "You?"

"San Franokyo," Tadashi replied.

"Opposite sides of the country," Hiro said. "Why on earth are you in Chicakaidoo?"

"ARC's Robotics competition," Tadashi answered. The 48th Annual Robotics Competition (ARC) was a week long festival of robots and science. It had started off as a purely robotics competition before expanding out into other fields of science and engineering, encompassing all different parts of science and technology. There were battle bot fights, robot building team competitions, a science bowl, chemistry demonstrations, physic magic shows, fruitcake catapults contests, showcases and lectures from leading robotics experts, scientists, and engineers and even an amateur contest for students to show off their projects.

Tadashi's entire class had packed up to attend to this. Professor Callaghan was one of the main speakers and Tadashi had joined the team competition with his friends. They managed to score first place. That was the first time SFIT had gotten first place in the three years since Tadashi had started college and he proudly took home his first place medal.

"No way!" Hiro said. "You too?"

Tadashi blinked. 'You too?' Hiro had been at ARC? "You were there?" Tadashi asked, clearly surprised.

Hiro nodded. "Yeah, I was in the battle bot tournament."

Tadashi felt his jaw drop. There was no way. The battle bots tournament was only opened to college students. There was no way Hiro was old enough to be a college student. He didn't look old enough! "How old are you?" he blurted out before he could stop himself. Groaning, Tadashi slapped his forehead with his hand. 'I'm such an idiot,' he thought.

Hiro on the other hand, only laughed. It was a brilliant and clear laugh that reminded Tadashi of bells. "I'll have you know my 18th birthday is next month," Hiro said.

"I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me," Tadashi apologized.

Hiro waved his hand flippantly, dismissing the apology. "It's okay, you're not the first one to question my age. That's what occurs when you graduate from high school at age 13."

Shock filled Tadashi. Thirteen?! Tadashi had graduated high school early at the age of sixteen, but thirteen? How smart was Hiro?

"So why are you still in Chicakaidoo?" Hiro asked, curious. His head tilted to the side as he looked at Tadashi. "ARC ended last weekend."

A broad smile broke across Tadashi's face. "Yeah," he said, voice fond. All of his friends and teachers had left this past Monday to return to San Franokyo. However, given SFIT technology based program, the fall semester always ended the Friday before ARC started. Nothing said 'awesome' like ending the year with a robotics/engineering/science competition. Since Tadashi had never been to Chicakaidoo before, he decided to delay his return to San Franokyo to explore the city a little. One of the few distant cousins he had also lived just outside of the city limits and Tadashi didn't get to see them often. It was a good excuse to stretch his legs, never mind that the winter season was in full swing. Aunt Cass didn't mind and he should have been back before Christmas… before this blizzard grounded his flight back home.

"My college always ends the Friday before ARC, so I'm already on break. I've never been to Chicakaidoo before and figured it was a good reason to explore the city," Tadashi explained. It had been an enjoyable experience. "What about you? I could ask the same about you."

Hiro laughed again. "Yeah, but see it make sense that I'm still here considering I go to Chicakaidoo Tech!"

Chicakaidoo Tech was San Franokyo Institute of Technology's eternal rival. The two schools frequently completed for the top Technology School in the nation. Tadashi had been offered a partial scholarship to CT before he turned it down. SFIT had offered him a full scholarship and it allowed him to stay close to Aunt Cass, which was why Tadashi had ended up at SFIT. 'You would have met Hiro sooner if you had gone to CT,' a voice in his head whispered.

Tadashi pushed those thoughts aside. "I guess that makes us epic rivals," he joked, amused.

"Does that mean you're a SFIT nerd?" Hiro asked.

Tadashi nodded.

"Epic rivals, indeed! We still crushed SFIT in the battle bot competition," Hiro boasted. He stuck his tongue out playfully.

"Ah ha! But we won the robot building team competition," Tadashi teased back. That was a sweet victory, to win first place over CT.

"Psh, it's only because I wasn't able to be on both teams. They should change it so that the battle bot fights and the robot building team competition happen at different times," Hiro said.

Tadashi laughed. He admired Hiro's confidence. He figured given Hiro's smaller stature and young age, Hiro would have been more insecure. "Aren't you a cheeky one," Tadashi said.

"I'm lovable," Hiro replied.

A comfortable silence fell over them. Tadashi couldn't suppress the joy that was beating in his chest. Hiro was shaping up to be a really good friend, epic rivals aside. Tadashi could easily see the passion and pride Hiro had when it came to robotics; it reflected in his voice, in his eyes as they had spoken about ARC. It was a shame that they went to different schools. Maybe Hiro had a Skype? Or any kind of instant messenger; email worked too. Tadashi would love to have someone to bounce ideas off of. He was having a little trouble with Baymax's battery, and while Professor Callaghan was a help, Tadashi craved someone closer to his age group to share his love of robotics with. None of his friends were in the robotics field exactly.

A rumble interrupted Tadashi's thoughts. He chuckled as he looked at Hiro. "Hungry?" he teased.

"Oh, shut up," Hiro said. "I haven't had time to grab anything to eat yet. Been too busy trying to figure out what I'm going to do."

Tadashi peered down the stretch of the hall. At the very end, the lights in the Starbucks were still on. As it was eleven o'clock, going on midnight, most of the stores and eating places had closed already. "Wanna hit the Starbucks? We can grab something to eat and drink there. I'm sure they still have pastries leftover. Then you can give me suggestions on what to do."

Hiro snorted, already standing and swinging his backpack over his shoulder. "Not sure what help I'll be. There's that hotel just outside of the airport, but I'm not willing to brave it out there in this storm, nor do I have the funds for it. I'm almost certain that it's already filled given how many flights have been canceled. CT had already closed their campus, kicked their students out of the dorms, so there's no going back there even if we could make it."

Tadashi's longer stride easily caught up with Hiro, falling in place next to the smaller boy. "Well, yeah, I used most of my money already on hotels. I can't exactly afford it either. What about your friends?" Tadashi said.

Something dark flashed across Hiro's face, but it was gone before Tadashi could analyze what it was. Instead Hiro tried to smile, but it came across as frail and bitter to Tadashi. "Don't have too many friends, and definitely none that would take us, me, in during this blizzard. So I'm pretty much thinking of crashing in the airport until the storm clears. Sure the chairs are uncomfortable, but it's warm in here, there's food, the general store near the security check in has toothbrushes and toothpaste, and I'm pretty sure there's an employee shower somewhere I could use if I asked someone really nicely," Hiro said.

"Good plan. I was thinking the same," Tadashi said. He didn't remark on Hiro's comment about potential friends.

The smell of coffee filled the air as they approached the store. A few people lingered inside, warming their hands around styrofoam cups. To Tadashi's delight there were still pastries in the window. There was even a few sandwiches left in the fridge section. Hiro stepped forward, quickly ordering his drink, two cookies and a sandwich.

"I'll have your grande peppermint hot chocolate," Tadashi ordered. "And your old fashion doughnut."

The barista smiled brightly and rung up his order. "That'll be $6.18," he said.

Tadashi handed over the money. "Thank you," he said as the barista handed back his change and his doughnut.

"Hot chocolate," Hiro questioned. He was clearly amused by Tadashi's choice of drink.

"Best part about the holidays," Tadashi answered firmly. "Beside what are you talking about. You're the one who ordered peppermint hot coffee."

"Seasonal drink. Might as well enjoy them while I can," Hiro said.

They grabbed their respective drinks from the counter and wandered back to where they had originally met. Tadashi took a blissful sip of his hot chocolate, enjoying the sweet taste of his warm drink. Next to him, Hiro was scarfing down his sandwich with much gusto.

"So does that make you a pumpkin spice lover too?" Tadashi asked.

"Yup," Hiro said. "Though nothing really beats a straight up cup of coffee. What else is going to keep me up through my projects?" A mischievous grin played on his face. "I suppose hot chocolate is alright too."

"Don't mock the hot chocolate!"

Hiro wiped his hands with a napkin, tossing it into the now empty plastic sandwich container. He then moved onto the bag that held his two chocolate cookies. "Coffee is better than hot chocolate," Hiro said.

"Tea is better than coffee," Tadashi challenged. To his amusement, Hiro gaped at him in shock. Hiro was definitely a coffee purist.

"Tea has nothing on coffee!"

"It's better for your health," Tadashi pointed out. He took another sip from his cup to hide his growing smile. Hiro was downright adorable when his feathers were ruffled.

"Bah!" Hiro threw his hands up in disgust. "Don't talk to me."

Tadashi laughed and began to eat his doughnut. The silence continued peacefully as they both ate and finished off their drinks.

"Ah, that hit the spot," Hiro said when he was done.

Tadashi gathered up the trash and dumped it in the nearest trashcan. "Stomach satisfied?" he asked.

"Definitely." Hiro peered out the wide windows. The bright lights from the outside lamps glowed softly like hitodama, barely visible through the snow. The entire airport was covered in a thick blanket of white snow as the storm continued to rage. "Think the blizzard will clear by tomorrow morning?" Hiro asked.

Tadashi sat back down in the seat next to Hiro. He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we'll see huh?"

Hiro leaned against Tadashi, resting his head on Tadashi's shoulder. Surprised, Tadashi glanced down at the smaller boy, eyebrow raised.

"You can be my pillow until tomorrow morning," Hiro said. He closed his eyes.

"Guess the coffee isn't going to keep you awake," Tadashi teased. He shifted slightly into a more comfortable position. Hiro made a noncommittal grunt, already on his way into dream land. Tadashi smiled softly to himself as Hiro relaxed further into a deeper sleep.

There was a small part of Tadashi that hoped morning never came.

* * *

Please don't ask me where this came from. No, actually, I'll tell you. The stuck-in-the-airport was a 'AUs I want to see written' post on tumblr floating around. The Hidashi pairing? That's a surprise to me too. I rarely go with the incest pairing (even with AUs where they're not related), sure I might read a couple but they are rarely my OTP. So it's a surprise that Hidashi is shaping up to be my OTP for BH6.

Until next time.


	2. Chapter 2

Tadashi woke up with a sore neck that could only be obtained from sleeping in a funny position. He groaned and stretched. His shifting woke up Hiro, who was still leaning against Tadashi's shoulder.

"Wat?" Hiro asked sleepily, blinking and rubbing his eyes. "Wut timz iz it?"

Tadashi stared, awestruck at just how adorable sleepy Hiro looked. His brain jump started, remembering Hiro's question as Tadashi fumbled for his phone for the time. "It's currently 9:12am," Tadashi answered him.

Hiro rubbed his eyes again, head turned in the direction of the window. Outside was still a blanket of snow and no visibility. You couldn't even see the sun in the sky. Hiro let out a sigh. "And I see the blizzard is still going strong," he said.

Tadashi ignored the small part of him that was immensely happy with that. He quickly shot off a text message to Aunt Cass to inform her that the storm was still strong and he was still grounded. "Wanna get some breakfast?" Tadashi asked. "My treat."

"Well, I'm not going to turn down free food," Hiro said, stretching. He rolled his shoulders, trying to loosen the muscles that had tightened over the night from the position he had slept in. "I'll tell you what, you buy breakfast and I'll go pick us up some toothbrushes and toothpaste so we can at least feel somewhat refreshed."

Tadashi grinned. "Deal."

An hour later, after breakfast and a quick wash up in the bathroom, they found themselves wandering the shopping area of the airport. Some of the stores were still closed; no doubt the employees managed to escape before the blizzard had hit. Then there were the not so lucky employees who were stuck with everyone else. A few stores were being opened by disheveled employees who clearly slept on the floor in their uniforms.

Tadashi soon found himself standing in front of Kinokuniya, a popular bookstore that had a small branch in the airport. It was one of the many tourist attractions Tadashi had visited in Chicakaidoo as the original and largest store in the chain was located here. Who didn't love a good bookstore?

"Thinking about buying a book?" Hiro asked. He casually skimmed across the titles that lined the shelves.

"Was looking for a game to help us pass the time actually," Tadashi said.

"Tired of my charming personality already?" Hiro joked.

Tadashi doubted that he would ever tire of Hiro's quick wit, cheer and confidence. "Nah, more like I'm afraid I'll bore you." Tadashi was smart but not like Hiro. Outside of their love of robotics and the fact that they were snowed in, there was really no real reason for Hiro to actually stick around with Tadashi. With a game, hopefully that would change. Tadashi really wanted to be friends with Hiro and what better way to bond then over a game?

"Impossible," Hiro said.

Tadashi smiled. Then he saw a light brown box with a tiny man with a Viking horn helmet and a chainsaw. "Munchkins!"

"What?" Hiro asked. He stood on his tiptoes to read over Tadashi's shoulder. "What's that?"

Tadashi grinned. About two years ago, Fred had discovered the game and dragged everyone over to play. It later morphed into weekly game night at Fred's house. It was good fun and highly competitive. Ah the chaos they got into.

"Do you like video games, Hiro? RPGs to be exact." Tadashi asked.

Hiro blinked, uncertain where Tadashi was going with this. "Yeah," he said, warily.

"Then you're gonna love this game," Tadashi explained. He handed the money off to the cashier and dragged Hiro to the nearest empty table they could find.

Tadashi opened the box, pulling out a deck of cards and dice. From his wallet came out the coins from the other day, level markers to be used in the game.

"Alright," Tadashi said, shuffling through the cards. "So think of Munchkins like your normal RPG video game. You have a character, you which, depending on the cards can have a race, a job, armor and weapons." He flipped onto the table several cards the shown samples of what he was talking about: a elf race card, a priest job card, a sword and a helmet.

"You win when you get to level ten. To level up, there are cards that auto-level you or by defeating monsters." Tadashi flipped a weak Level 1 Monster on the table. "The points from your level, armor, and weapons determine if you beat the monster. So right now, your current level is 1 and the monster is level 1, so that would be a tie, which still results in you losing. But if we add this helmet which gives you +2, your total power is 3 and you beat the monster, get some treasures and gain a level, going up to level 2."

"Okay," Hiro said, soaking up the cards in front of him. "So how do we find the monsters in the game?"

"Right, so when it's your turn, you flip over the top card in the deck. That is 'kicking down the door'. If it's an item card, you get to add it into your hand. Then you can either fight a monster from your hand, or loot the room and take another card from the deck. If it's a monster though, you have to fight it." Tadashi explained.

"What happens if the monster is like Level 5 and I'm still level 1 with a total power of 3?" Hiro asked.

"Couple things. There are cards that make the monster stronger or weaker, even some that make it disappear. Or you can ask me for help to take the monster down. If I'm not feeling charitable," Tadashi paused to chuckle. "You can try running away. That's what the dice is for. You need to roll a 5 or a 6 to escape."

"And if all that fails?" Hiro asked.

"Depending on the monster you could lose certain armor and weapons, lose levels or even 'die' which removes all your items," another voice interjected.

Both Tadashi and Hiro looked up to see a tall, scrawny teenager with messy brown hair and a camera swung over his shoulder grinning at them. "Sorry," the teenager apologized. "I was just walking by and saw you guys playing. Smart idea. I was just at every store looking for a simple deck of cards, or anything to help kill the boredom. Everything is sold out."

Tadashi blinked. He supposed it wouldn't occur to most people to check the bookstore for board games and now that he thought about it, the shelves were looking a little bare when he and Hiro were in there. People had to be entertaining themselves somehow. He shared a quick glance at Hiro, who simply shrugged his shoulders. Well… Tadashi did want to spend time with Hiro, but the more the merrier right?

"Do you want to join us?" Tadashi asked.

The teenager brightened. "Really? Cause that would be great."

"Peter!"

"Assuming my girlfriend doesn't haul me off somewhere."

A blond haired teenage girl ran toward them. "Tell me you found a deck of cards or something," she said. "Sudoku, crossword puzzles, anything quick and easy so that I don't strangle my kid brothers? I'll even take a regular book if it wouldn't be impossible to get them to read it."

"Err, well these guys just asked if I wanted to join their game of Munchkins," the teenage boy, Peter apparently, said.

The girl brightened. "Oh Munchkins! I love that game. Oops where are my manners? I'm Gwen Stacy, this is my boyfriend Peter Parker."

"Tadashi Hamada, nice to meet you," Tadashi said.

"I'm Hiro Takachiho," Hiro said.

"Are we intruding?" Gwen asked; her voice full of concern. "I don't want to jump in, if you two rather play by yourselves."

Hiro and Tadashi shared another look. Another shrug was passed between them. "Nah, Munchkins is more fun with more people. Do you have to get back to your brothers?" Tadashi asked. He shuffled the deck and dealt out the cards to everyone.

"My mom can deal with them for a couple hours. I had to deal with them while she ran around trying to figure out how we were gonna get home, where we were gonna sleep for the night. Maddening," Gwen said, taking a seat.

"Ah, not from Chicakaidoo?" Hiro asked.

Peter shook his head as he dropped into the seat next to Gwen. "Nah. We were here for a campus visit to Chicakaidoo Tech. Both Gwen and I will graduate from high school this upcoming spring."

Hiro grinned. "Oh, you should definitely go to Chicakaidoo Tech," Hiro said.

"Do you attend there?" Gwen asked, curious.

Hiro nodded. "Yup. It's great there. Their robotics department is the best."

"Hey!" Tadashi said. "SFIT is just as good." Like Tadashi was going to let Hiro get away with saying that CT was the better school. There were rivalries to maintain!

"Do you go SFIT?" Peter asked Tadashi.

"Yeah. Grew up in San Fransokyo, so going to SFIT was my first choice," Tadashi said. He glanced through his cards, laying down a weapon and armor.

"Bitter rivals, huh?" Gwen joked with a smile. "We just came back from visiting SFIT three days ago too."

"Totally. Don't listen to Hiro," Tadashi joked. "SFIT is a much better school. I keep telling him that."

"Hey! Remember who kicked whose butt in the battle bot tournament," Hiro said, sticking his tongue out at Tadashi.

"Details," Tadashi replied. "Beside, I won the team competition remember?"

"Just can't accept how awesome I am, can you?" Hiro teased. Then he shifted through the cards in his hand and asked, "Can I just put down all my armor and weapon cards?"

"Yup," Peter said. "Just place them down. Might as well start off strong, right?"

"I'll go first," Tadashi said. He reached for the card, flipping it over.

The game quickly progressed. ("Et tu, Hiro!" "Sorry Tadashi, but letting you win is not an option.") Despite the long run, Hiro was the one to come out on top in the first round. ("How did you do that Hiro?!" "Well, Gwen, I'm just that awesome.") Peter claimed the second round and was promptly sentenced into doing the first food run. ("How does that work?! I win, but I'm the one who has to go get everyone lunch?" "Peter, just do it." "Yes Gwen.") The bet for dinner was quickly introduced to the table. ("So now you people want me to win? Really Hiro? Playing that card that decreases the monster's strength?" "Well, you wanted to win…" "I hate you." "Love you too!")

They were through their fourth round, stomachs content with food from the various restaurants nearby when Gwen's phone went off.

"Ooo, that's my mom," Gwen said, picking up her phone. "Hi Mom, um, yeah. No, we'll come back. We're fine. MOM! We're not -!"

Turning red, Gwen hung up on her phone. "Sorry guys, we need to go."

"The mother dragon calls," Peter joked, folding his cards.

"Thanks for letting us interrupt your date," Gwen said. "Double dates are always fun."

Tadashi felt his cheeks burn. She thought he and Hiro were a couple? But they weren't… Sure Hiro was cute- _'Did I really just think that?'_ Tadashi thought. "Oh, we're not-"

"We should totally swap numbers," Peter said with a wide grin. "Chances are, we're gonna see one of you again."

"Um, sure," Hiro said, his cheeks equally as red as Tadashi's.

Numbers and emails were exchanged and Tadashi and Hiro waved goodbye as Gwen and Peter went down a different terminal.

"They were nice," Hiro said with a cough. His face was still red.

"Y-yeah," Tadashi said. He wasn't sure why Gwen thought they were dating. It wasn't like… Unless that last round, when Tadashi had said that he hated Hiro (playfully of course, the same way one often curses their opponent) and Hiro, being the cheeky brat he was, replied with 'Love you too' in the same bantering manner. But it could be so easily misconstrued to a pair of strangers…! Tadashi felt his cheeks burn a brighter red.

"Hey Tadashi?"

Tadashi snapped out of his thoughts to see Hiro staring at him.

"Thanks," Hiro said with a gentle smile. "This was really fun."

Oh god, did Tadashi's heart just skip a beat?

* * *

Hello Peter, Gwen. If you're not familiar with them, this adorable couple is from The Amazing Spider-man movies. Is Peter Spider-man in this story? Dunno, probably not though if he's considering moving across the country for college.

With any luck I didn't butcher too many of the rules of Munchkins. (Yes it's a real game, look it up if you haven't heard of it. Youtube has some great videos!) It's been awhile since I played (couple months) and I wasn't willing to dig through mess leftover from Christmas to find the rulebook. Hopefully for those of you who haven't heard of it, understood it enough.

Until next chapter (whenever it comes to me...) D: Remember I have a terrible track record with chapter stories.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello lovelies! Sorry for the long wait (I did warn you that chapter stories are a weakness of mines. OTL ) This chapter didn't want to be written because techno-babble is hard.

* * *

Tadashi splashed water on his face, washing it clean. The morning of the third day brought forth the news that the blizzard had yet to break. Tadashi found himself both elated and depressed over that news. Christmas was but three days away and he would hate for Aunt Cass to spend it alone by herself. Of course, according to Aunt Cass' text messages, she was fine, if Tadashi couldn't make it back in time, she would merely wait until he arrived safely on the ground. It was far more important to her that he was safe and sound instead of worrying how to get home on time.

Being stranded did mean that Tadashi got to spend more time with Hiro. It was strange to think that it had been only two days since Tadashi had met Hiro. It felt much longer than that. Tadashi had never quite clicked with anyone like that before.

As he exited the bathroom, he found Hiro had moved their belongings to a large table. Spread out on the table were small gears, wires and tools. Hiro appeared to be tinkering away at a small robot.

"Looks like you're up to something interesting," Tadashi said.

"Just some tinkering on Megabot," Hiro said, distracted. "I figured he could use a tune-up while I waited for you to finish up in the bathroom."

"Megabot is the one you took into the battle bot tournament?" Tadashi asked, curious. He sat down at the table, watching Hiro undo wires, tighten bolts and generally fiddle with Megabot's body.

"Yeah," Hiro said. "Lot of people underestimated him due to his simple design."

"But magnetic bearing servos make him more diverse than other designs. Low friction and less mechanical wear means he's low maintenance. Which is good for long tournament battles because you don't exactly have a lot of time to fix in between the matches," Tadashi commented.

Hiro looked up, slightly surprised. "Yeah, exactly. You know a lot about magnetic bearing servos."

Tadashi grinned. "I do have the creator as a mentor," he lightly teased. "Professor Callaghan works at SFIT."

Hiro groaned. "I forgot about that. I'll admit, that's one thing that SFIT has over CT. He's really your mentor?"

"Well, he mentors everyone in the lab," Tadashi said. "I get extra points because he's also my advisor."

"I'm so envious," Hiro groaned. "That's not fair."

Tadashi laughed. "So why is Megabot smiling like that?"

"So people underestimate him," Hiro said with a smirk. He flipped the face to the reveal a red angry one. "It's a trap; they think he was poorly made with his yellow smiley face and simple design. They don't even realize it's one big trap until it's too late!"

"No wonder you won so easily," Tadashi said.

Hiro shrugged, waving his wrench in the air. "I'm used to being underestimated. It was better to play on that. All about strategy right? But I still got a long way to go. I mean Megabot is kinda on the bulky side all things to consider. Right now all I can do it control his three separate body parts. If I could add more, there would be more versatility in his design. I wouldn't be limited in his form. Though I'm not sure how you would control that. After all, I only got ten fingers and it's already a challenge to move all three parts separately."

The conversation fell into an easy pace as Hiro continued to expand on his ideas and tinker with Megabot, tossing around ideas. Tadashi offered his suggestions with Hiro jotting down some of the more complex ones to try out later.

Eventually, they broke for lunch, grabbing some of the remaining sandwiches from one of the nearby eateries.

Hiro looked at Tadashi with an odd expression all throughout lunch.

"What do I have something on my face?" Tadashi lightly joked.

Hiro ducked his head, blushing lightly. "No. I mean, thanks. I don't have many friends… don't know many people who would sit down and actually listen to me ramble. So thank you."

Tadashi was astonished. He would have never thought that Hiro didn't have many friends. The younger teen was friendly and his quick mind was amazing. How could anyone not want to be friends with him?

Without realizing it, he had blurted out that last thought aloud.

Hiro looked away, looking vaguely upset.

"Shit, I didn't mean it like that," Tadashi said. "It's just you're amazing, Hiro. I'm just surprised that there aren't people tripping over themselves to get to know you."

"A few have tried," Hiro said dryly. "Most wanted to just use my brain to pass classes. A couple tried to bully me. I did start college at a way younger age than most people."

Tadashi winced. Ah, jealousy would most likely be a leading factor. "I'm sorry."

Hiro waved his hand dismissively. "What's done is done. It's something you get used to after a while. So tell me what are you working on at school?"

Tadashi didn't comment on the change of topic, instead launched into his somewhat prideful boast regarding Baymax. "Well, when I was a kid, I really wanted to be a doctor. You know help and save people. Except, robotics always drew my attention more. So I decided I wanted to combine the two and Baymax the Personal Healthcare Robot was born. I wanted something huggable and friendly and knew over a thousand different medical procedures..."

As Tadashi was winding down on his speech, Hiro just… smiled. It was a soft and tender smile. Tadashi swallowed, feeling a lump in his throat as his heart sped up.

"Wow," Hiro said. "I think that's amazing, Tadashi. I think that's really going to revolutionize the world." There was faith and wonder in his tone of voice.

Tadashi blushed. To have Hiro believe so strongly in his idea for Baymax that was… breathtaking. Ah, crap. He really might be falling for Hiro.

"Thanks Hiro."

* * *

Ah Tadashi -pets- It's good you're having this realization now. But just so you guys know, this will either end next chapter or in two more. Depends on how long the epilogue gets. Thank you for being patience so far. We're almost at the end.


	4. Chapter 4

Last Chapter!

* * *

Chapter 4

Tadashi was blissfully asleep, dreaming of smiles with a gap in the front teeth and a brilliant brain. He was happy and content.

"Tadashi wake up."

"Five more minutes," Tadashi sleepily mumbled. He didn't want to wake up.

"Tadashi."

There was a hand shaking him. Grumbling, Tadashi sat up and stretched. Whatever he was sleeping on was uncomfortable. Pausing to remember his situation, he could only sigh. Airport chairs. Of course it was uncomfortable. Tadashi rubbed his eyes and looked around.

"What is -yawn- is it Hiro?" Tadashi asked.

Hiro pointed to the large windows. "Look, the blizzard broke."

Snapping wide awake, Tadashi looked outside. The sky was gray, but clear. There were already machines on the runways clearing the snow. No longer was the snow falling.

Something in Tadashi broke as Hiro smiled and said, "We can go home."

* * *

The next several hours was standing in lines to sort and coordinate flights. People were antsy to get home and the airport staff was trying their best to calm everyone.

"So," Hiro said, holding his new ticket. "My flight leaves in an hour. We're gonna start boarding in about fifteen minutes though. I gotta head over to my gate."

"Me too," Tadashi said.

Hiro rocked back and forth on his feet, hands in his pockets. "I guess this is goodbye then."

"Yeah," Tadashi swallowed tightly. He had exchanged contact information with Hiro, but it wasn't going to be the same. His throat constricted as he tried to the words out. _'Come on you idiot! At least tell him you like him!' _That voice sounded a lot like Gogo.

Ultimately though, his words failed him.

"Bye Tadashi," Hiro said. "It was nice meeting you. See you online." He turned and waved, walking off into the crowd of people.

Tadashi felt his heart lurch as he made an abortive wave.

'_Coward.' _

* * *

"Tadashi!" Cass bounced toward her nephew, sweeping him into a hug. "It's good to have you back home safely."

Tadashi smiled at her weakly. Five hours later, Tadashi had landed safely in San Fransokyo. "Hi Aunt Cass," he said.

"Tadashi?" Cass asked, looking at him with concern. "What's wrong?"

"I think… I think I just let the best thing in my life walk out on me," Tadashi said. He couldn't stop thinking about Hiro.

"Oh sweetie," Cass said. She pulled Tadashi into a hug. "It'll be okay."

Tadashi wasn't sure if it would ever be.

* * *

-Eight Months Later-

Tadashi sent a reply to Hiro's latest email. Summer had been too crazy to travel, too many projects and his senior thesis that needed to work on. Tadashi was trying to graduate. But Christmas. Maybe Christmas he would travel and go meet up with Hiro. (And confess this time!) He just had to survive this semester and Tadashi would have his bachelor degree.

Of course that was dependent on getting Baymax up and running.

"Hey Tadashi," Wasabi called out. "You got a visitor."

Tadashi put down his tools. "Who is it?"

"He's cute!" Honey Lemon shouted from across the lab.

"He looks like a twig," Gogo said with a snap of her gum.

"Like a puppy!" Fred added.

Tadashi sighed and rolled his eyes fondly. His friends. He walked to the front lobby where all visitors were required to wait, unless they accidentally stumble across an active experiment.

"Can I he-" The words died in Tadashi's mouth as his throat went dry. There standing in the lobby was Hiro, crooked smile and all.

"Hey," Hiro said.

"Hiro! What are you doing here?" Tadashi said.

Hiro shrugged. "So I neglected to tell you that I had actually just finished graduating from CT that winter we met and I was on the hunt for a grad school. I was planning on going back to CT, but you made a good argument for SFIT... so here I am. So are you going to show me around?"

"Can I take you on a date," Tadashi blurted out before he could lose his nerve again.

Hiro smirked. "You better. I didn't move all the way to San Fransokyo on a whim, you know."

Tadashi grinned. He held out his hand. "Of course."

Hiro took his hand. "Alright, you might as well introduce me to your friends first. I do not want to get on Gogo's bad side."

"No one ever does."

* * *

The End!

Thanks for sticking with me for so long. I hope you guys enjoyed this short story. Happy Holidays!

Oh and yeah, Reviewers, keep your PM box open! One of you is the lucky winner! Just a small thank you for leaving a review.


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